NHL negotiations are set to resume Monday in New York in a bid to find traction toward the end of the 65-day-old lockout.

Sunday night, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman gave a 30-minute phone interview to the Winnipeg Free Press, providing a little insight into the league's positions as the lockout sits in its third month.

There isn't too much revealing on the major topics as he turned aside questions about a deadline for canceling the season, about how to win fans back and about NHL Players' Association executive director Donald Fehr.

Some highlights of the interview:

On why the league is seeking changes in contracting rights in addition to a 50-50 split:

"We want to make sure the system works well and continues to work well. There are certain trends and issues that have arisen that we believe need to be adjusted in order for us to have the competitive balance that we want and need to enable us to continue to grow the game. What's in this deal for the players? Give or take $14 billion over the next seven years."

"I think the view some have of our first offer is fairly naive as it relates to collective bargaining. A sophisticated negotiator would have looked at it and said, 'Obviously they want a 50-50 split.' If we're at 57 and they propose 43, they must be telegraphing where they want to end. If your intention was to use it in an inflammatory way, you could do that. If your intention was to make a deal, you could pretty much chart out what the course should be."

On a Philadelphia Daily News report that Flyers owner Ed Snider might be souring on the lockout:

"It was a fabrication. Ed Snider is the one who told me about the article when he found out about it and he was terribly upset. He's in Europe and it was his idea to put out a statement. Anyone who doubts the resolve of ownership is either uninformed or (being) intentionally misleading."

"I work for the owners but I work for the game. What I do transcends what I do for the owners. I do work for the game and I try to do the best I can for the game. You'll find in the course of labor disputes, there's always a lot of rhetoric. Most of it is just noise. Most of it is misinformed. There's propaganda. It's just a fact of life that you live with. By the way, I love the players. Nobody should think for a moment that I don't. If I didn't I wouldn't do this job. I couldn't do this job. I believe in the players. I don't believe in what's going on right now. It's part of the business of the game. The least attractive part of the game."